OK. I am ready to buy a used steel frame and so far I have five to choose from. What's the opinion of you cyclists out there?
And the candidates are:
1970's Bottecchia Giro D'Italia
1980's Raleigh Prestige USA Racing
1989 Bianchi Special
1999 Schwinn Peloton
1999 Lemond Zurich

First Vote!

You did'nt pick a frame.

I did, you just have to guess which one

zurich all th e way. great frame. well balanced, forgiving and lite.

I think in the range of frames and ages it totally depends on your intended purpose.

I am new to road riding. 47 years old, and can't touch my toes anymore. Hence the name "in difficulty"
I am looking to build up an Ultegra level bike for under $900(Yes it can be done) so I can ride with my buds on Saturdays. They do a 30 mile loop, some hills, mostly flat.

I love old bikes, and I also understand wanting to go with steel. Paricularly lugged steel. But that aside, for $900 you'll be amazed at what a nice new bike you can buy these days, one that would be ready to go right out the door. You wouldn't have to mess with the several potentially troublesome compatibility issues you may have to deal with on the older frames on your list in order to put a modern Ultegra group on it. Since you're new to road cycling, the best thing to do is probably get a nice, new, entry level bike and go have fun with it; assuming you condition the "engine" (you ), you won't have any trouble keeping up with your buddies. Save the customizing of an old classic for later, when you know more about your preferences-

I'd pick the LeMond because you're apt to have fewer surprises when you go to build it up with modern components. It'll be designed for a modern 130mm rear hub, English bottom bracket, and recessed brake mounting bolts.

Unless the Bianchi is painted celeste. But in that case, the $900 budget goes out the window because it has to be all Campy with Cinelli bars.

BAM !! I love it , I love the man prior to you too, what he said. Funny, older more knowledgeable riders seem to recommend the newer bikes,makes sense to me. Besides,out of what you listed,the LeMond is a better bike than the others, funtionally (oppinion).The Schwinn's OK, talk about frames surprises,well....just leave it at that. I don't feel the Bottechia (oppinion). I'm not so fond of having to get a bike up to par,from an original standpoint and to go modern on it makes less sense (unstiff frame)

As has been happening frighteningly often of late, well biked and I agree nearly completely. However, I'd push you a little more toward a used bike off eBay than a new out-the-door bike. Like a car, a bike depreciates as soon as it rolls off the lot, meaning you can get more bike for the same money if you buy it used.

The complicating factor, of course, is that you won't have the expertise of the local bike shop (LBS) to draw on. But once you get a good idea of what geometry you need to fit you, you're almost over the hump. The rest you can pretty much get here and with some online research.

for someone who mentions they can't touch their toes, which probably indicates some lack of flexibility and muscle tone, there seems to be little discussion of the individual frame sizes. are we to assume these are all the same size?

I have a specialized 89/90 lugged steel frame Sirrus and it it a great riding bike. I would tend to agree with the ones who said you might be better off starting with a new or slightly used ready to ride bike. You can find a very nice used bike for under $900 and have money left over for shoes, pedals etc. Also, if you are just starting out, why ultegra. I had 105 10 speed on my last bike and it shifted fantastic. I would have stayed with the 105 but my new (used) bike came with the ultegra. You can always build up a steel bike later if you like to ride and if you don't like is as much as you thought you would a used bike will depreciate much less than a new one.

Yeah, Like a dope I just posted an answer concerning SR frames this OP posted. The forum's scramblin' for him. Post if you want but,please, at least SOME focus. Questionaires,maybe ifs, I know better now.